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Monday, January 30, 2012

Currently, every room in our apartment is painted white. While I love the bright, white feeling of our light-colored walls, I also crave a little color. Recently, I've been thinking about dark, deep hues. I am actually debating whether or not to paint an accent wall behind the head of our bed and leave the rest of the room white. In the past, I would never have considered an accent wall, but lately I am feeling the appeal of a less-than-full commitment to color.

When I find myself thinking of my favorite interior designers, I can't imagine them painting an accent wall, which makes me think it's not the way to go -- I should stick with white or go colorful on all four walls. What do you think, are accent walls just plain hokey, or are they sometimes okay?

If we do, do an accent wall, I'm thinking of a hue like the one above, which is a half-and-half mix of Twilight and Gentleman's Gray by Benjamin Moore, which looks perfect to me (image from House Beautiful's website).

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comments:

I like them! Our bedroom and bathroom are all one color, but our living room is painted a milky white on three walls (not as stark as a regular white), with one wall painted in a color similar to the one in the photo you posted. (I think it's Benjamin Moore Cathedral, actual.)

Hmmm...I don't think they're hokey. But that's just my taste. I think it's a great way to liven up a room without fully committing to a complete color transformation. And it draws the eye to something interesting.

I'm struggling with the same dilemma. About to redo my former roommate's room as a guest room, I am tempted to paint the entire room teal. (I love peacocks). But is that too much color, so that I should instead freshen it with white and one teal accent wall? So tough to decide.

Not hokey at all. . . but they're better if there's something significant on them--tons of bookshelves, a fireplace, a big window or a statement piece of furniture, a salon-style hanging of art and photos. . . and then they're awesome.

Well, as a design professional, I think in general they are a little hokey. It's something that can be done -and very well - but you have to be very careful.

What you've got going for you is that you're talking about a headboard wall ... so in essence the wall would really become the headboard. But you might think about doing a fabric instead - even a solid - to give it some softness (there are a million online tutorials about upholstering walls for renters) OR if you choose the right color I think you'll find that the whole room can likely absorb all four walls being painted.